---
title: 'The 2022 Retrospective'
publishedAt: '2022-12-31'
description: 'Surabaya, Covid, Apple Developer Academy, Projects and more'
banner: 'behnam-norouzi-IUnlR6XXseI-unsplash_lts5af'
tags: 'retro'
---

## Introduction

> If you're Indonesian, you might like to read this blog in [Bahasa Indonesia](/blog/id-2022-retrospective)

It's finally the end of the year again, and writing a retrospective for 2022. With this retrospective, I'm reminding myself how much I've grown this year and what I've done.

## Back to Surabaya

After almost 3 full semesters of online lectures, finally, we students can attend campus offline. To be honest, at first, it was a bit scary because it had been a while since I had gone back to Surabaya and studied offline again, but it was still exciting. Another reason why I'm back to Surabaya is that I'm preparing for the Apple Developer Academy, which will start around February this year.

## I Got Covid

Hooray, covid 🤣. Yes, my place where I stay, kinda like a dormitory called _kosan_ is affected by Covid. Get familiar with this _kosan_ word, I'm going to use it often. All of my friends who stayed in my kosan got covid. At first, we are self-isolating and didn't leave our room because we were afraid of getting Covid, but in the end, we all left the room because everybody had it, and we didn't care anymore 🥲. Luckily my uni had not started at that time, so we can all focus on getting sick.

## Apple Developer Academy

I am very grateful to have the opportunity to join the Apple Developer Academy at Ciputra University. I actually received two offers for the program - one in Binus Jakarta and one in Ciputra Surabaya. I finally chose the one in Surabaya because at that time which is around November 2021, there was anticipation that the classes might have to be held offline. Which was true, phew.

It seems like the story of my journey at Apple Developer Academy won't be detailed here. I've been thinking about writing a blog specifically for the Apple Developer Academy, but here are some interesting highlights.

### New Device!

After using my MacBook Air Early 2014 for 8 years, my MacBook finally retire and can be replaced with a MacBook Pro M1 2020 🥳. This is a total upgrade and the speed difference is mesmerizing. I've also been accommodated with an iPhone 13 and an Apple Watch 7, which makes me even more enthusiastic to learn at the Academy.

<TweetCard tweetId='1496421134828707842' />

[Link to Tweet](https://twitter.com/th_clarence/status/1496421134828707842)

### Hexcape

Hexcape is one of the projects I developed while participating in the Apple Developer Academy. This was my final project, and it is a board game. During the time I spent at the Academy, I often played board games with my classmates. We chose something that we found interesting and engaging.

<TweetCard tweetId='1603605602428628992' />

It's a long thread, [Check it out](https://twitter.com/th_clarence/status/1603605602428628992)

There is a [full project](https://theodorusclarence.com/projects/hexcape) information about Hexcape.

Overall, the Apple Developer Academy was a very meaningful experience for me and I gained a lot of knowledge and a portfolio that I think is very impressive and has a "wow factor.”

## LhokUtang

<TweetCard tweetId='1501076387821940736' />

[Link to Tweet](https://twitter.com/th_clarence/status/1501076387821940736)

After getting a new powerful device, I got excited to use it well and I thought about making something. This problem has actually been happening for a while in my kosan. We have a habit of helping each other out where one or two people go out and buy food for like 5 people in the kosan. Of course, the person who pays is the one that goes out to buy. Because there is no one keeping track, we forget, and this phrase is often heard in the kosan lobby: "Hey, how much do I owe you from yesterday?" "Have you paid back my debt yet? I forget how much it was yesterday.”

Thus, LhokUtang was born, taken from the name of my _kosan_, "Kos Lhoktuan." After using this app, we can take turns buying food, and, all transactions are now recorded.

From the time it was created until the time this blog was written, 16 of my friends have made **1,442 transactions** that are recorded in the database 🤯. Kudos to my kosan friends who are using this app.

## Projects

### Starter Repo

The starter that was created last year has continued to grow and has gained even more stars! There are now **1,328 stargazers**, and that number is what motivates me to make the starter repository even better.

<GithubCard repo='theodorusclarence/ts-nextjs-tailwind-starter' />

If you're interested in knowing more about my starter, I have a [full blog post](https://theodorusclarence.com/blog/one-stop-starter) talking about it.

### PPDB Sulawesi Selatan 2022

This year, I had the opportunity to lead the front end of the PPDB Sulawesi Selatan project. This is an application to accommodate students who want to enter a local high school in the province of South Sulawesi. This is a fairly large project and I as a leader, have a lot of responsibility. This project certainly makes my coding more organized and I apply what I have learned while studying to produce high-quality code and guide my fellow developers to consistently write good code.

As a bonus, I also had the opportunity to fly directly to Makassar to work with the Department of Education. The best part, of course, was the culinary foods in Makassar!

<CloudinaryImg
  mdx
  publicId='theodorusclarence/blogs/2022-retrospective/ppdb-sulsel-team_y1r7xd'
  alt='ppdb-sulsel-team'
  width={1000}
  height={750}
/>

<CloudinaryImg
  mdx
  publicId='theodorusclarence/blogs/2022-retrospective/makkasar-foods_jtdsz1'
  alt='makkasar-foods'
  width={1388}
  height={926}
/>

**cholesterol!**

### Notiolink

This year, I released an open source product that can be used by many people, called Notiolink. Simply put, Notiolink is a link shortener that uses Next.js and the Notion API. Everything is free and can be deployed immediately. I use this for my personal shortener, [clarence.link](http://clarence.link)

Learn more about Notiolink on this [project page](https://theodorusclarence.com/projects/notiolink).

## Blog

This year, due to the Apple Developer Academy, I haven't written many blog posts. The Academy takes up a lot of time and energy, but my blog has still grown quite a lot over the past year. Here is the monthly statistic.

<CloudinaryImg
  mdx
  publicId='theodorusclarence/blogs/2022-retrospective/blog-statistics-2022_k2gmvz'
  alt='blog-statistics-2022'
  width={2236}
  height={1238}
/>

## Light Gaming

An unexpected highlight this year was: Light Gaming. In recent years, I have rarely played games, especially on my laptop. Because, well, my laptop was a potato. But this year, with the new device and new friends from the Academy, I tried playing games and it was very enjoyable.

<CloudinaryImg
  mdx
  publicId='theodorusclarence/blogs/2022-retrospective/light-gaming-steam_s41mqr'
  alt='light-gaming-steam'
  width={953}
  height={434}
/>

## What's next for 2023

It wouldn't be a retrospective without 2023 resolutions. Next year will be the year when I start my thesis and graduate. I have a goal to start researching how to work remotely or work abroad. Of course, before that, I need to finish my thesis first hahaha.

I also hope to be able to host a webinar again next year so I can share my knowledge and experience with others.
